International terrorism has escalated in recent years. In 1990 a Pan Am jet exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all aboard. The explosion has been attributed to a terrorist bomb which was placed in the cargo hold.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,956 shows a laminated container for explosives. The container is capable of at least partially absorbing a detonation by delamination of the laminated walls. Explosives placed within the container are spaced from contact with the outer walls of the container by a support structure. The support structure can comprise, for example, a net, or a material such as plastic foam or foam rubber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,247 shows an explosion containment device including three layers of steel and crushable layers intermediate to the steel layers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,285 shows an aircraft explosive storage containment unit. The container acts to attenuate the effects of a bomb blast and direct the force of the explosion into a specific area. In use, the bomb is placed within the container, and the container is placed in a structurally non-sensitive portion of the airplane, with a least attenuating (failure mode) portion directing the blast effects outward through the aircraft hull.
The use of each of these explosive containment devices requires that an explosive device be identified. Once the bomb is identified, a person is placed at risk as they put the explosive within the containment device. The devices generally include large amounts of steel for blast containment, and thus are heavy. None of the devices are suitable for the enclosure and transport of large amounts of items such as luggage which may potentially contain an explosive device.
It would be desirable to provide a transport structure which is sturdy and relatively lightweight, can be used to containerize and transport luggage within an aircraft or other transportation means, and which is bomb-resistant or bomb-proof.